google-home

I've been spending some time researching the confusing world of home automation and in particular smart lighting. In the UK it is in a rather confused state - lots of bulbs with nifty features, but quite poor human interface usability, because of the complete lack of compatible available retrofit solutions for light fittings that can't have their bulbs changed (or use a large number of bulbs), and existing UK switch fittings and wiring. But that's another story...

Over the past couple of years my household has become more and more invested in the Google ecosystem. It hasn't always been this way, it's simply because products came along that were the best solutions to my tech desires. Android, Shield TV, Google Photos, and Chromecast audios. Unlike on phones, Voice at home is genuinely useful, so I could hardly pass up it finally being adopted by the 'big guys'. But I did not take the plunge with Amazon's Alexa because my educated bet is that Google is naturally inclined to have the better solution - for two reasons: